He graduated from Rocky Mount Senior High School in 1974, and had an All-American college career with the North Carolina Tar Heels.

[2] Ford led UNC to a second-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season standings,[3] and then to a championship win over NC State in the 1975 ACC tournament.

[7] In the 1977 ACC tournament, Ford scored 26 points in the championship game against the Virginia[8] to propel UNC to another conference title.

While being coached by Cotton Fitzsimmons and forming a dynamic backcourt duo with Otis Birdsong which was noticed by many across the league,[11][12] Ford was named NBA Rookie of the Year with the Kansas City Kings in 1979.

[13] During the 1980-81 NBA season, Ford scored a career high 38 points in a 113–107 win over the Houston Rockets on January 23, 1981.

After his sophomore season, Ford was the starting point guard for the 1976 U.S. Olympic team, coached by Dean Smith, which won the gold medal.

However, when Ford was dribbling the ball in the center of the four corners alignment, he often found teammates for quick, easy baskets or drew fouls on the other team.

He also finished his career as the only player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to score over 2,000 points and register at least 600 assists (a record now shared with Travis Best of Georgia Tech and Greivis Vásquez of Maryland).

In 1988, he returned to North Carolina as an assistant coach, and helped lead the Tar Heels to the 1993 national title.

[22] Ford currently works for the Educational Foundation, the fund-raising arm of the University of North Carolina athletic department.